1. Halve the figs and put them in a bowl. Put the bowl in the freezer
for fifteen minutes.

2. In a food processor, combine cold figs and two teaspoons of oil,
cloves and mace, and purée them.

3. Cut the dates into four or five. In a bowl, combine dates, ground
figs, pine nuts, and remaining spices. Mix thoroughly.

4. Roll out the pastry dough and cut into circle about four inches
across. Mold the fig and date paste into walnut sized lumps and wrap them
in the pastry circles, crimping the edges together. Trim off any excess
pastry dough.

5. In a deep fryer or large, heavy skillet, heat the oil and deep
fry the rischews until they are golden brown. Drain the oil off, and serve.

Makes about a dozen.

NOTES ON THE RECIPE:

These fritters might be described as deep-fried Fig Newtons.
Today, similar fritters are called rissoles. The instruction to fold
hym as Ruschewys is a perfect example of how these recipe collections were
not for novices; one needed to know what ryschewys looked like before one
could fold them.